


Friendship By The Numbers

by Haberdasher



Category: Original Work
Genre: College, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2019-09-23 23:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17089370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haberdasher/pseuds/Haberdasher
Summary: A story based on the writing prompt "You see numbers above people telling how many people they'll kill."(...or something like that, I can't find the exact wording of the original prompt.)





	Friendship By The Numbers

“…there’s something I should tell you. About why we’re friends.”

Sam turned to Will, a smirk forming on his face.

“You don’t have to tell me, man. I already know you want my hot bod.”

Will shoved him, a gesture that might have had more force to it if Will didn’t have the upper-body strength of a gnat. “Knock it off. I’m not interested, in you or anyone else for that matter, we  _had_  that conversation.”

“But if you were you’d be all over me, right?” Sam waggled his eyebrows at Will, who responded with a wave of the hand.

“Sure, whatever, don’t- I’m trying to actually tell you something, dammit, don’t go distracting me like that.”

“Okay, okay. So if it’s not because of my hot bod, why are we friends?”

Will hesitated for a long moment. “It’s- look, if I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh or call me crazy or anything like that?”

“No promises.” Sam shot back.

Will’s eyes were dark and somber. “I mean  _really_. It’s not something I tell a lot of people, but it- it’s real, you have to believe me.”

The smirk fell off Sam’s face. “Okay, okay. Whatever it is, I won’t make fun of you. I’ll be chill, I promise.”

“Thank you.” Will nodded tightly. “So I- I see these numbers over people’s heads. Have ever since I was born. I don’t know why I see them, or why nobody else does. But what they count is, well… how many people someone killed, or will kill in the future.”

“…shit, man. Have you told the police?”

“Well, it’s not that simple. Having a number of eight doesn’t mean you’re, like, some serial killer stabbing eight people to death, or anything like that. It’s sort of-” Will made a vague, wiggly hand gesture. “-like the amount of people who died because of you. Like, how many people’s lives ended because of your actions. But then there’s gotta be a cut-off point, right, because I’m sure if you tried you could connect everybody’s death to everybody else if you were vague enough about it-”

“Jeez, philosophy major much?”

Will gave Sam a weak smile. “Hey, there’s a reason I’m acing all my philosophy courses. So, anyway, however vague it is, it’s enough that most people aren’t at zero. And it changes- I guess it’s like an estimate when it comes to the future part, so if things change the count can go up or down. My count is three, has been since middle of eighth grade, and I don’t know why.”

“What’s mine then?”

“Fourteen.”

“Four _teen_?”

Will nodded and let out a shaky laugh. “That’s not really that abnormal. You think that’s bad- well, I don’t want to name names, but at least one professor I’ve met has a five-digit count.”

“Five digits. You’re talking tens of thousands of people, dead because of this professor.”

“Yeah. I keep thinking about going to his office hours and saying something, but hell, what would I say? What if I made it  _worse_?”

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Yeah.”

“…but, wait, you said this had something to do with us being friends, right? So, what, you saw I was gonna kill fourteen people, and that… appealed to you somehow?”

“No, not exactly- remember how I said the numbers can change over time? Well, your count wasn’t at fourteen when we met.”

“Was I the rare zero, then? Did you corrupt me into sort-of-killing fourteen people, Will?” Sam elbowed Will, and though he hadn’t meant to put much force into it Will still winced and rubbed the spot he’d elbowed. Man, that kid really was made of tissue paper.

“No, that’s not it either.”

“So…” Sam paused, waiting for Will to explain further, but eventually concluded that Will had no intentions of speaking up. “So how does this have to do with me then?”

“Okay, I’ll just say it. When we first met, your count was at… over seven billion people.”

“Seven MILLION?”

“No, seven BILLION. Like, everybody on the planet, or close enough, anyway.”

“…what.”

“Yeah. I’d never seen a number like that, not even when I visited D.C.- though, lemme tell ya, some of the people I saw on the street there… but, like. I knew the numbers could change, and I figured, maybe if I said hi to you, it would, like, un-doom the planet or whatever.”

“Un-doom. Is that a technical term?”

“Definitely. Really, that’s what you take from all that?”

Sam shrugged. “I just… don’t understand how I could be responsible for killing that many people.”

“Well, I don’t either! I thought maybe I’d understand when we talked, but you were clearly just another student-”

Sam held up his index finger in objection. “-an exceptionally rad student, you mean.”

Will snorted. “Yeah, that’s it. But we kept talking, and hanging out, and then about a month ago I saw it flicker down to fourteen for- for just a moment. And then it switched back and forth for a bit, and then last Thursday it stayed at fourteen and hasn’t budged since. I thought maybe you’d have some idea why.”

“Hmm…” Sam started stroking his chin, thinking that the action would somehow help him think but instead only realizing that it’d been too long since he last shaved. “I mean, I don’t remember deciding not to set off any nukes or averting a worldwide pandemic…”

“I’m being serious, Sam!”

“I’m thinking, alright? Last Thursday… I had a few classes, submitted my major declaration form, went to see that one guest speaker, and went to bed. Boring day, really.”

“You’re double-majoring, right? Or am I confusing you with Dave again?”

Sam snorted. “No, you’re not confusing me with Dave, and I still don’t see why that’s a thing. As of last Thursday, I am officially double-majoring in History and Psych, and am thus twice as cool as you peons who can only manage a single major.”

Will’s eye roll was exaggerated, clearly meant as a performance for Sam more than as a way to let out real feeling. “Yeah, well, maybe I’ll have to triple major just to show you up.”

“Can’t do it. I checked.”

“Wait, what would your third major have been in, then? Besides overachieving, I figure at that point that one’s just a freebie.”

“Poli Sci. I was thinking of going into that, but once the administration told me I’d have to stick to two majors I decided History and Psych were more up my alley.”

“…wait. So you were thinking about going into politics before?”

“I was considering it for a bit there, yeah, but now I…” Sam’s speech trailed off as he saw the look on Will’s face and put together the pieces. “I guess I would’ve been a pretty shit politician, huh?” He punctuated the statement with a laugh, and Will laughed back.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so, Sam. Seven billion dead certainly counts as a pretty shit job in my book.”

Sam’s laughter died down, replaced with a shit-eating grin. “Think I can tell my folks that next time they ask why I didn’t major in something more practical?”

Will’s eye roll was less theatrical this time. “Well, you can certainly  _try_.”


End file.
